A New Plan for Blueprints

Paperhouses offers free building designs from brand-name architects; a courtyard that can be cut to size

By

Kristiano Ang

March 27, 2014 6:52 p.m. ET

As an architect at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Joana Pacheco made a living working on designs of everything from a hotel to museums and universities. Now, she is attempting something different: giving blueprints away free.

The 34-year-old Portuguese national is the founder of the website Paperhouses.co, an open-source platform that provides people with residential blueprints at no cost. They may change those plans to suit their...